3 October 2017
Year 8 visited the Natural History Museum in Oxford for a day of art and science. The morning started off in the lecture theatre learning about classifying animals, evolution and natural selection, led by Sarah from the museum. Sarah used examples of arthropods and barnacles from the museum's collections. After the talk, those feeling brave handled some live giant hissing cockroaches. Then it was time to explore the museum with a worksheet to answer questions about Darwin, variation and classification.
After lunch, we switched from science to art. Sherrey explained how the museum building is a real work of art in itself; every pillar has a different carved pedestal featuring plants and animals, and the ceiling echoes the ribs of a dinosaur skeleton. The boys were given the task of sketching some of the museum’s features and details of architectural embellishments using different drawing materials and techniques.
